White storks hatch in Cornwall in rewilding plan
A farmer is nurturing a brood of white stork chicks as part of a charity's aim to reintroduce them in the county.
Yan Swiderski has welcomed eight stork chicks from the adults he keeps in a woodland near Wadebridge as part of work by the Cornwall Stork Project.
Wildlife expert Chris Packham said the project was "exciting" as it would "hopefully recolonise Cornwall" with the birds.
The first wild white stork chicks in the UK for hundreds of years hatched at the Knepp Estate in West Sussex in 2020.
Wildlife expert Chris Packham said reintroducing storks was "something that's not easy to do".
He said: "You can't just get some storks and let them go in the UK because they will only return to where they were hatched.
"This is what is so exciting about the storks in Wadebridge.
"Because those storks have hatched there, when they're released they'll have a yearn to return to Wadebridge or the surrounding area which will mean they will hopefully recolonise Cornwall."
White storks have been seen flying across Cornwall as they migrate south.
Mr Packham said migration was tough as some storks could be hunted and some affected by natural catastrophes.
"This is a project which needs to run for a number of years to get those numbers up because there will be natural mortality.
"So the idea that all eight of these storks that migrate away when they're released will make it back is a little fanciful."
Storks are slow to mature, he added, so breeding would take a while.
A few of the chicks born near Wadebridge were fragile and needed specialist care from the nearby Screech Owl Sanctuary.
Karen Hopkins, who is caring for them, said: "The hope is that these lovely birds will fly over the Cornish skies and we can be a small part of that process by giving them the food they need at this young age."
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